Back to the Zoo

We went back to the zoo today - third time in a month!  Between what we would have paid for the adult entries and the two used parking vouchers, we will have the next 13 months of zoo membership for $3!  Not bad...

Again, it was cool and foggy, so we got to see more active animals - even some I've never seen before, like the Cassowary:

It's a bird, related to an emu, but with a head that looks like it was sculpted, or made out of legos or playdough or something.  Totally exotic and weird.

We also visited the Children's Zoo and saw some keeper chats about the birds of prey.

This is an owl, dining on rat.  I guess his mom never taught him to twirl his entrails.

This is Frank, the Harris Hawk, hiding his rat feast.

The other new experience this trip was a stop at the playground.  The Salvateenies played on the swings.

Caroline liked the swings

Daniel loved the swings!

Max liked the swings, until they started moving...

For whatever reason, Max REALLY didn't like being in the swing.  Uncle Kelly took him for a test swoosh down a slide and he wasn't into that either.  He was ok sitting on my lap in the "big kids" swing and he seemed ok going side-to-side, too.  But front-to-back? No dice!

If you don't believe that silly, adventurous Max was really not a fan of the swings, check out this video:

And to see Daniel and Caroline REALLY loving the swings...

Amid all these new experiences at the zoo, we counted about 26 instances of people commenting on the triplets, either to us or to each other as they passed by.  But, in a huge surprise to me, there were two additional comments we had not heard before.  The first was from a woman who asked, "You have triplets? So do we!"  She had four year olds, two boys and a girl, and then another, younger child.  One of the boys was very excited to see triplet babies and announced, "Just like us! Two boys, one girl!"  The mom said she was proof that you can get through the baby years, but that she wouldn't take up any more of our time.  Up by the polar bears, I noticed a woman with toddlers sprinting away from a double stroller.  I was about to comment to my brother that that was the age I was really scared of, when the mom turned and asked, "You have triplets, too?"  I thought, of course, that she had bumped into the same other family we had.  But, no!  There were THREE of those little kids running around the stroller!  She couldn't talk more, since she had her toddlers to corral, but she did give us kudos for getting the Salvateenies out and about.  That's right! Three sets of Triplets!

We came home, tired and hungry, and had yummy barley and broccoli for dinner - an appropriate combination since, as a child I used to call the vegetable "barkley" (and I also used to try, painstakingly, to explain to my parents that "barkley is poison", but they wouldn't buy it.)

After dinner the babies settled in on the floor to play, but Caroline was a little fussy, so I held her on my lap.  I think she was fussy because of her teething.  I have facts to back up this hypothesis:

Here she is gnawing on my thumb

Here are her bite prints up and down my hand and wrist!

And for those of you who haven't gotten enough video - here's one of the babies playing at home while Daddy watched them.

Road Trips!

Well, not big, overnight road trips, but you'd think they were to hear the babies whine in the car!  On Thursday, we headed up to Santa Rosa for a graduation ceremony for my friend Jennie.  Jennie and I met in the sixth grade and were best friends all the way through school.  In our early twenties, she got married and moved to the North Bay, and I didn't, and our friendship sort of ended.  But we've been in touch since the babies were born and I was super excited to see her at her graduation.

Unfortunately, I seem to have a mental block when it comes to how far away Santa Rosa actually is.  And how bad commute traffic is.  So, we headed out at 4:30 for a 6:00 ceremony...and got there at 6:30.  We missed the whole ceremony ... in which Jennie gave the welcome, too ... but got there in time to chat with folks at the "light refreshments reception".  It was outdoors on a lawn and the weather was beautiful.  Caroline, who had sobbed and screamed her way all the way up 101 decided to be adorable as soon as there were strangers around - what a ham!  And, of course, she couldn't help being adorable, since she was dressed in the little pink and brown business suit her Cousin Paula had bought for her!

Jennie, her niece, and Caroline

I'm not sure you can tell, but she's got little brown leggins with ankle ruffles, and a pink blazer with ruffled lapels and a polka dot bow - and it's fitted at the waist with a bow in the back.  Très chic!

The boys were also pleased as punch to play withe the new folks - here they are laughing at Jennie's niece and nephew:

As everyone packed up, we headed home, making a three and a half hour round trip for a one hour visit, but we got to stop at A&W on the way home, so that made it OK. :)

On Saturday we lazed around the house, to recover from the trip to Santa Rosa and a Friday visit to the Grandparents' house - the babies needed a day without a car trip!  Uncle Kelly came over to play while I did some grocery shopping, and he built this very cool toy cabinet for us:

And Grandpa came over a little later and brought cherries.  Caroline had heard that life was just a bowl of cherries....and that you have to reach out and grab life by the horns.  So she reached out and grabbed the bowl of cherries!  They were so big and juicy that watching her gnaw at one was like seeing someone eat an apple!

Then it was eggs florentine for dinner and off to bed:

Oh, and have I mentioned that Max officially crawls forward now?  Lord, help us!

Visiting on the road and at home

Tuesday I thought I'd get out and visit Sam, since she always comes to see us.  After naptime and lunch, we tucked everyone into their car seats. We've been leaving the infant carriers in the cars now and toting the babies down to lock them in, since they are just too heavy as one piece. This does raise the level of difficulty, however, since we have to buckle Max into the middle seat across one of the other seats.  There's also the matter of Miss Caroline, who has taken to locking every possible joint in the full straight position and wailing at the top of her lungs whenever she has to be buckled into anything - and in the car seat we're buckling her in from the side!  Keep track - this is the first time I've put them in the car seats.

We got to Sam's in no time and brought the babies inside to play with Junior.  Caroline was having a fit, but calmed down after some Tylenol.  Then Sam's husband Mike showed up, and the boys went insane.  Every time he said ANYTHING, the boys burst into wailing tears.  They've met Mike a number of times and have always really liked him - this was amazingly odd.  So we abandoned our plan to head to the park with Mike and decided to feed the babies a little early and then head out to do a little shopping.  Back in the car seats (count, time two into the car seats with screaming Caroline) and out to Target for the first stop.

At Target, the boys got to be in the double stroller and Caroline was in the Bjorn.  The babies got the normal amount of oohing and ahhing. Now they're starting to meet more babies their own age, which is fun.  We did all the shopping we needed, including a new cabinet to store toys in in the living room.  Much needed, to be sure!  We wanted to buy more baby food, so we set off for Babies R Us next.  Count three times with screaming Caroline into the car seat.

Max cried the full three blocks to BRU, so I put him in a carrier snuggled in against me and let Caroline ride in the double stroller.  Caroline was not so pleased with this part, but she settled in.  After our shopping, we put them back in the car (time four) and back to Sam's house for dinner and bottles.  Once they were in the house, they went crazy again - screaming.  I stripped them down to their diapers, which I changed, in case that was the problem.  It only got worse when Mike came out to try to help.

A rare moment when they're not openly screeching

So sad they're turning their back on Sam, taking the picture

Waaah

They even got Junior to cry with them!

Want to hear them crying?

They wouldn't let Mike OR Sam feed them, so I had to figure out a way to feed all three of them at the same time:

Caroline suffered through being put in the car seat one more time, and cried all the way to and across the San Mateo Bridge, followed by occasional ragged gulps to remind me she'd been sobbing earlier, in case I'd forgotten.  So sad.

Wednesday, we decided to have the visitors at home instead.  Matt & Lauren, my former students, came over with their moms (and burritos - yummm).  Matt & Lauren hadn't seen the babies since December, so they were much more active and chatty this time around.

Caroline tries out tortilla chips

Max is digging his chip, too.  Daniel is upset he didn't get one.

Max is checking to see if Lauren is getting any new teeth

Matt and Daniel

Deep in conversation

All smiles

Smiling with Lauren

 Everyone was nice enough to stay and help with dinner (the first attempt at all "table food" - ground turkey, rice, and green beans...Caroline and Max carried on about halfway through their meals.  Daniel finished every grain!) and played with them all.

When it was back to just me and the babies, I got them settled down to play and took the opportunity to call Sam and see how she was doing in the aftermath of our scream-fest.  In the middle of the call, I got a call-waiting beep and switched over.  Nobody responded, but I heard a faint echo of myself saying hello.  Then I heard a faint echo of the babies, who were giggling in the other room.  And then it hit me, and I merged the calls so Sam could be in on the joke.  Max, who was in the other room, playing with a cordless extension of the home phone, had somehow hit the right series of keys to call my cell phone!  I almost passed out I was laughing so hard!

What? Me?  I didn't call you?  But, while you're here - can I have the real car keys for a moment?

Catching Up

Hard to believe it's been six days since the last update.  What has happened since last Thursday?  Hmmm...

We went to Grandma &Grandpa's like we do most Fridays.  The babies were adorable, then had meltdowns, as usual.  Anything that messes with their nap schedule is NOT GOOD, and it's just impossible to get them to sleep long enough on the days we go to Livermore.  It's so sad, because I'd rather them be able to enjoy their grandparents, but if we don't go and mess up their schedules, then they'd never get to see them!  It was good we got out, anyway, because the water was shut off again for much of the day!

Saturday was a spectacular day.  Sam and Junior came over for the EXPRESS PURPOSE OF CLEANING MY HOUSE!  We had some quick lunch while the Salvateenies were sleeping and then set in on organizing the changing table, packing up all the clothes they've outgrown, emptying the junk that's accumulated in "baby jail" since we first built it, vacuuming, organizing the diapers in the dining room, putting away all my clean clothes (which have been piling up in laundry baskets ALL summer), and hanging and folding/putting away the babies' clothes.  All while feeding and playing with ALL FOUR BABIES!   My brother stopped by at one point, since helping to organize other people's things and playing with babies are actually high on his list of things he enjoys, so that was a big help, too.

Normally, Junior is a really chill baby (as the kids would say) - you can set him down with a toy and he'll happily amuse himself.  That day, though, he was really needy and clinging to his mama, which made it harder on Sam to get everything done that she'd planned (I am REALLY not complaining - what we got done still amazes me!) It turns out that he might have been a little shy about pooping at our house, as he had two big blow-outs once he got home, and that might explain his literal discomfort during our visit.  And to top it off, he got two teeth the next morning!  Poor guy!

Joe's colleague, Joe Rogers, had dinner with us and we talked him into feeding Daniel his night-time bottle.  Amazingly for someone named Mr. Rogers, this was his first time feeding a baby.  I think he looks like a natural.

Sunday, Joe and I worked at the Giants game.  Stranger anxiety has set in with the babies, and Caroline was especially weepy as we left, which tugged at Joe's heart strings.  Men! Such softies!  (More on stranger anxiety in the next post.)

Monday I didn't get around to a shower all day; the babies and I just chilled in our PJs all day.  Max has started crawling forwards a bit, Caroline has started crawling backwards, and Daniel is just now starting to roll/creep towards things instead of just sitting and looking pretty, waiting for someone to bring him what he wants (which, I have to admit, has been a successful tactic so far in his young life).  The tooth update:  Max has SIX TEETH, with about four more pushing through. Caroline has four teeth and a few more bumpy spots threatening to become teeth. Daniel also has four teeth, with one canine just poking out of his gumline. OUCH!  Caroline has complained the most during her teething.  Daniel and Max seem to take it more in stride.  But the current batch are giving Max a hard time, resulting in a lot of Mommy and Max cuddling on the couch.  I figure he's entitled to at least one day of whimpering over it.

On Monday we also picked up some second-hand goodies, including a music table.  We thought it was something that the babies could all use together.  Sadly, they were not in a playful mood when we got it in and set up:

And in uploading these pictures, I found a few more of Max and Caroline eating and of everyone showing off for the camera:

A crinkly smile

A BIG crinkly smile!

Caroline's new pastime is trying to eat anything made of paper that she can find 

Who are you?

Bright flash!

Can I have the camera?

Bright flash!

How Did I Forget to Post These?

Probably because I was holding onto them forever so that they'd be a surprise for Father's Day.  Here are the photos we took way back on April 30th!

We took the pictures in a park in Livermore, where the Grandparents live.  Grandpa was NOT happy about the whole outing - he's not an outdoorsy type and wasn't enjoying trekking through "weeds" to take pictures.  Hopefully he was pleased enough with the photos to overcome the memory!